Hey, a quick question (and not about Coronavirus, at least not directly). My wife and I are leaving our present school this year (and its awesome global health insurance) and were wondering what people do to bridge summer coverage between jobs. I haven't looked directly at extending our present plan (I presume it will be expensive), but it might be the best thing, especially since my wife is coming off of cancer. Anyhoos, are there other options that people have found that can give us good coverage for 2-3 months? Thank you kindly!!

Involvement in Model UN came through two different means:
1. Joined an already existing club as a sponsor at two schools (pretty standard club at most international schools).
2. Started my own MUN team in Canada at a public school (for a public school of 1000 we did exceptionally well...top school at Cornell twice and 2nd at MIT/Boston U conference)

I teach AP US and Comparative Gov't...teaching politics is possible (also Model UN is great experience for getting hired). I also teach in an international Christian school in Seoul, so many things are possible.

Being able to do Model UN would probably also help. Currently teaching AP US and Comparative Politics at my school, as well as a Grade 12 combination class of Comparative Politics and Economics. My first degree is History however.

Depends entirely on the public school. I moved back after 6 years, worked there 13 years, and am now in year 5 of being back overseas. I would say that the first 8/13 were quite good, but things started to deteriorate quickly in Ontario public education which motivated me to take my family back out overseas. No school/system is perfect, but the student body overseas tends to have less "dramatic" issues than what one may experience in North America. Seeing as you have been away for 15 years, it might be a tough transition.

Buffalofan,

That's an interesting observation...it can be very difficult to be a good parent or spouse I'm beginning to believe in today's international schools (particularly in Asia), but what do I know? I"m also starting to believe that I was a little spoiled in the Ontario Teaching system.

Hi chilagringa,

Any common factors for this tragic situation?

Hello,
I was wondering, has anyone ran across any stats about the strenuous workload found at most international/private schools and a "possible" correlation with divorce rates? I'm curious to see if there is any connection. I remember interviewing at one private school in Ontario, and the person conducting the interview/tour informed me right at the beginning that there was an 80% divorce rate on staff. At that point I informed him that there was probably not much point continuing the interview as I was not interested in putting my family in jeopardy. As I look at the international school environments and the workloads, I understand that some people can handle it, but I'm wondering how it is affecting marriages.

Thank you kindly!

I find that I pick up posters at the tourist spots that I visit. Pretty easy to carry with you and its nice to hang "stories" on your walls.

So, if they came back to Canada, worked a summer job, filed a tax return...then they could go to school anywhere and take advantage of our RESP?

Are you sure about that? We were told that we could use the money from the RESP in any country that our children chose to study in. We have not contributed to our RESP since declaring "non-residency".

Read Andrew Hallam's books

Unfortunately when we did our job search a few years ago, it was IB "experience" schools were looking for (particularly the good schools), and didn't seem too interested in people just taking the courses. Of course, this is a catch-22 because how do you get experience if an IB school doesn't hire you?

As far as safety goes, Korea would rank up there with the best...integration in schools with high Korean student populations however can be problematic (and that's most of them as was already mentioned). Local kids are great to teach, but don't mix well with others, something which influenced our choice to go to YISS (the most international other than SFS).

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies...my biggest problem is that I can't really stomach Faculty of Education courses (does that make me a bad teacher?), yet don't really have the time with a full-time job and family to complete one in other areas. I would love to do something in Educational Philosophy, but they are difficult programs to find.

I've recently come across one program that I am interested in but have two problems:
a. they want an essay that I have written which I don't have access to here in Korea
b. they want two recs from former professors (let's see, I finished school in 1993 and figure most of my profs wouldn't remember me, have retired or are dead).

Needless to say, I"m working with the school to try and find solutions. Onward and forward!!

Thanks!!